Birdie and Me

Informationen zum Autor J. M. M. Nuanez was born and raised in California, but has lived in other places like Texas and Korea. When she's not reading or writing, you can usually find her outside with her husband and son. In her spare time, she likes to play with her cats, make Korean food, and build miniature things. Klappentext An emotional and uplifting debut about a girl named Jack and her gender creative little brother, Birdie, searching for the place where they can be their true and best selves. After their mama dies, Jack and Birdie find themselves without a place to call home. And when Mama's two brothers each try to provide one--first sweet Uncle Carl, then gruff Uncle Patrick--the results are funny, tender, and tragic. They're also somehow . . . spectacular. With voices and characters that soar off the page, J. M. M. Nuanez's debut novel depicts an unlikely family caught in a situation none of them would have chosen, and the beautiful ways in which they finally come to understand one another.

Klappentext

An emotional and uplifting debut about a girl named Jack and her gender creative little brother, Birdie, searching for the place where they can be their true and best selves.

After their mama dies, Jack and Birdie find themselves without a place to call home. And when Mama's two brothers each try to provide one--first sweet Uncle Carl, then gruff Uncle Patrick--the results are funny, tender, and tragic.

They're also somehow . . . spectacular.

With voices and characters that soar off the page, J. M. M. Nuanez's debut novel depicts an unlikely family caught in a situation none of them would have chosen, and the beautiful ways in which they finally come to understand one another.

Zusammenfassung
* "This singular story of a grieving and unconventional family belongs alongside Holly Goldberg Sloan s Counting by 7s, Cindy Baldwin s Where the Watermelons Grow, and Ali Benjamin s The Thing about Jellyfish. Highly recommended. School Library Journal, **starred review

* This strong, emotional, and engaging read is a must-have for any library. The issues are dealt with realistically and challenge the reader to examine their personal feelings, the various modes for dealing with grief, gender fluidity, and how to appropriately support students in their search for who they truly are. A great coming-of-age story. School Library Connection, **starred review

** Nuanez carefully unfolds a tale of loss, individuality, and community . . . [and] a broken family becoming whole once more. . . . Fans of Jerry Spinelli will flock to Jack* and the peculiar residents of her new town and may learn something about acceptance while they re there. BCCB,* Recommended

Nuanez s debut tells an endearing story of family in the wake of tragedy, anchored by the wonderfully loving and supportive relationship between Jack and Birdie. . . . [T]he prose flows seamlessly and the dialogue feels undeniably real. *Booklist

• Sure-handed storytelling . . . [A] strong middle grade debut. Publishers Weekly

  "A beautiful, sensitive story about a sister and brother finding their way through tragedy and grief. Readers will love this eminently satisfying tale; its courageous characters will stay with them long after they turn the last page." Patricia Reilly Giff, Newbery Honor author of Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods

  There is so much tenderness in Jack and Birdie s story that you will feel like a better person for having read it. Here is book you will want to hug before you put it down. You will want to share it with all your friends. You will especially want to give it to anyone who has ever felt like an island. Then you will open the cover and read it again. I promise. Kathi Appelt, Newbery Honor winner and National Book Award Finalist

  Nuanez s outstanding debut shines with exceptionally well-drawn characters, all hobbled by one unspeakable loss, and all taking seemingly disparate measures to mend their tattered hearts. BIRDIE AND ME is an absorbing, hope-giving story about family love and acceptance. Leslie Connor, author of National Book Award Finalist, The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle

  Both hopeful and heartbreaking, Birdie and Me is a tender story about grief, identity, and the beauty and comfort that comes from letting yourself love and be loved. A luminous debut. Ashley Herring Blake, author of the Stonewall Honor book, Ivy Aberdeen s Letter to the World
  
  "CJ and I loved Birdie and Me, a heartbreakingly moving story about family, change, creativity, and home. Nuanez captures the tender and tragic aspects of love and loss, grief and growth. It is a much needed and beautifully written story that brings to life a flawed family courageously and carefully navigating loss, learning how to celebrate one another in all their differences. We can't wait to share it as far and widely as possible." Lori Duron, author of Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son**

  Brimming with heart, humor, and hope, Birdie and Me is a touching exploration of grief, mental illness, and the many beautiful definitions of family. Greg Howard, author of *The Whispers

• "Rarely has a sister-brother relationship been portrayed with such tenderness as in Birdie and Me. In her heart-opening debut novel, Nuanez shows how, in the midst of loss and grief, young people can find love and hope and a deep sense of family in the most unexpected ways." Ruth Behar, Pura Belpré Award-winning author of Lucky Broken Girl

  Leseprobe

Chapter 1

How to Move Again

Today is Saturday, the day we usually eat Honey Bunny Buns for breakfast and read the back page of the newspaper with Uncle Carl while he drinks coffee and smokes on the porch. The back page is the section of the newspaper that has weird news about things like two-headed llamas or people who get themselves stuck in air-conditioning vents or pets that are accidentally sent through the mail and survive.

But today isn t just Saturday. It s also moving day. And right now my little brother, Birdie, is on the couch waiting for me to open my eyes. I pretend to sleep, but even in the half-light, through squinted eyelids, I can see he s got Mama s old purple eye shadow on and a towel draped around his head like a glamorous headscarf.

Jack, Birdie whispers. Miss Jackie Jack Jacko.

I m sleeping. You should too, I say.

I can t sleep any more.

He creeps across the couch, down to my futon, and lays his head next to mine. The smell of Dr Pepper lip gloss fills the air. In my ear he says, I ve got a stomachache and it s probably critical. I don t think we can move today.

I open one eye. Critical?

Birdie leans toward me and whispers, Critical is the worst stage.

You re not critical, I say, sitting up.

Okay, he says, but I do have a stomachache.

I peek out the dusty blinds. Patrick will be here to pick us up in two hours. I do too, Birdie.

Birdie straightens his towel scarf and rewraps it under his chin and says, Do I look like Audrey Hepburn? With my scarf?

Who?

Audrey Hepburn. You know. Charade. Breakfast at Tiffany s. My Fair Lady.

I wait for him to say something about Mama and her obsession with these old movies, but he doesn t.

You d look more like Audrey Hepburn if you had sunglasses, I say. But it s not bad.

He smiles a little, but unwraps the scarf and drapes it over his head like a lampshade. Then he takes a fashion magazine from the coffee table and opens it on his lap. Maybe we should go to the library today, he says.

I don t say anything because even though he might pretend that today will be like any other day living with Uncle Carl, I see that he s already packed his backpack and two duf…